United States v. Choctaw Nation Wichita v. Choctaw Nation Choctaw Nation v. United States

Citation21 S.Ct. 149,179 U.S. 494,45 L.Ed. 291
Decision Date10 December 1900
Docket Number90,Nos. 88,89,s. 88
PartiesUNITED STATES, Appt. , v. CHOCTAW NATION and Chickasaw Nation. WICHITA and Affiliated Bands of Indians, Appts. , v. CHOCTAW NATION, Chickasaw Nation, and United States. CHOCTAW NATION and Chickasaw Nation, Appts. , v. UNITED STATES and Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

[Syllabus from 495 intentionally omitted] Messrs. George T. Barnes, J. M. Wilson, and Robert L. Owen for Choctaw nation.

Mr. H. E. Paine for Chickasaw Nation.

Messrs. Philip Walker, A. A. Lipscomb, Josiah M. Vale, and Wm. C. Shelley for Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians.

[496]

Mr. C. C. Binney, Attorney General Griggs,

and Solicitor General Richards for United States.

Mr. Justice Harlan delivered the opinion of the court:

On the 4th day of June, 1891, an agreement was entered into between commissioners on behalf of the United States and the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians, in the Indian territory, whereby those Indians did 'cede, convey, transfer, relinquish, forever and absolutely, without any reservation whatever,' to the United States 'all their claim, title, and interest of every kind and character' to the land embraced in the following boundary: 'Commencing at a point in the middle of the main channel of the Washita [Wichita] river where the 98th meridian of west longitude crosses the same, thence up the middle of the main channel of said river to the line of 98x40' west longitude, thence on said line of 98x40' due north to the middle of the channel of the main Canadian river, thence down the middle [of the channel] of said main Canadian river to where it crosses the 98th meridian, thence due south to the place of beginning.' 28 Stat. at L. 876, 895, chap. 188.

In consideration of that cession, it was agreed on behalf of the United States that out of the territory ceded there should be allotted to each member of the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians in the Indian territory, native and adopted, 160 acres of land in the manner and form described in the agreement. It was provided that upon the allotments being made the titles should be held in trust for the allottees for a period of twenty-five years, in the manner and to the extent provided for in the act of Congress of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat. at L. 388, 389, chap. 119); and at the expiration of that period the titles should be conveyed in fee simple to the allottees, or their heirs, free from all encumbrances. 28 Stat. at L. 876, 895, 896, chap. 188.

This agreement recited that in addition to the allotments pro- vided for, and the other benefits to be received, the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians claimed and insisted 'that further compensation, in money, should be made to them by the United States, for their possessory right in and to the lands above described in excess of so much thereof as may be required for their said allotments.' And it was stipulated in the agreement that 'the question as to what sum of money, if any, shall be paid to said Indians for such surplus lands shall be submitted to the Congress of the United States, the decision of Congress thereon to be final and binding upon said Indians; provided, if any sum of money shall be allowed by Congress for surplus lands it shall be subject to a reduction for each allotment of land that may be taken in excess of one thousand and sixty at that price per acre, if any, that may be allowed by Congress.' Art. 5.

It was further stipulated in the agreement that 'there shall be reserved to said Indians the right to prefer against the United States any and every claim that they may believe they have the right to prefer, save and except any claim to the tract of country described in the first article of this agreement.' 28 Stat. at L. 876, 896, chap. 188.

This agreement of 1891 was ratified by the act of Congress known as the Indian Appropriation Act of March 2d, 1895. 28 Stat. at L. 876, 894, 897, chap. 188.

By that act it was, among other things, provided:

'The compensation to be allowed in full for all Indian claims to these lands which may be sustained by said court in the scrip hereinafter provided for shall not exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for so much of said land as will not be required for allotment to the Indians as provided in the foregoing agreement, subject to such reduction as may be found necessary under article 5 of said agreement: Provided, That no part of said sum shall be paid except as hereinafter provided.'

'That whenever any of the lands acquired by this agreement shall, by operation of law or proclamation of the President of the United States, be open to settlement, they shall be disposed of under the general provisions of the homestead and town-site laws of the United States: Provided, That in addition to the land-office fees prescribed by statute for such entries the entryman shall pay one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for the land entered at the time of submitting his final proof: . . . Provided, That said lands shall be opened to settlement within one year after said allotments are made to the Indians.

'That sections 16 and 36, 13 and 33, of the lands hereby acquired, in each township, shall not be subject to entry, but shall be reserved, sections 16 and 36 for the use of the common schools, and sections 13 and 33 for university, agricultural college, normal schools and public buildings of the territory and future state of Oklahoma; and in case either of said sections or parts thereof is lost to said territory by reason of allotment under this act or otherwise the governor thereof is hereby authorized to locate other lands, not occupied, in quantity equal to the loss: Provided, That the United States shall pay the Indians for said reserved sections the same price as is paid for the lands not reserved.

'That as fast as the lands opened for settlement under this act are sold, the money received from such sales shall be deposited in the Treasury subject to the judgment of the court in the suit herein provided for, less such amount, not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars, as the Secretary of the Interior may find due Luther H. Pike, deceased, late delegate of said Indians, in accordance with his agreement with said Indians, to be retained in the Treasury to the credit and subject to the drafts of the legal representative of said Luther H. Pike: Provided, That no part of said money shall be paid to said Indians until the question of title to the same is fully settled.

'That as the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations claim to have some right, title, and interest in and to the lands ceded by the foregoing agreement [the agreement above referred to], which claim is controverted by the United States, jurisdiction be and is hereby conferred upon the court of claims to hear and determine the said claim of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, and to render judgment thereon, it being the intention of this act to allow said court of claims jurisdiction, so that the rights, legal and equitable, of the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations and the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians in the premises, shall be fully considered and determined, and to try and determine all questions that may arise on behalf of either party in the hearing of said claim: and the Attorney General is hereby directed to appear in behalf of the government of the United States, and either of the parties to said action shall have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States: . . . And provided further, That nothing in this act shall be accepted or construed as a confession that the United States admit that the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations have any claim to or interest in said lands or any part thereof. That said action shall be presented by a single petition making the United States and the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians parties defendant, and shall set forth all the facts on which the said Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations claim title to said land . . . And provided, That it shall be the duty of the Attorney General of the United States, within ten days after the filing of said petition, to give notice to said Wichitas and Affiliated Bands through the agents, delegates. attorneys, or other representatives of said bands, that said bands are made defendants in said suit, of the purpose of said suit, that they are required to make answer to said petition, and that Congress has, in accordance with article 5 of said agreement, adopted this method of determining their compensation, if any.'

It was also provided that the court of claims 'shall receive and consider as evidence in the suit everything which shall be deemed by said court necessary to aid it in determining the questions presented, and tending to shed light on the claim, rights, and equities of the parties litigant, and issue rules on any department of the government therefor if necessary.' 28 Stat. at L. 876, 897, 898, chap. 188.

Pursuant to the above act the present suit was brought in the court of claims by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians against the United States and the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians.

A diagram which was incorporated into the opinion of the court of claims is here reproduced to show the land ceded by the Wichita and Affiliated Bands of Indians. It is sufficiently accurate for the purposes of the present discussion.

Tract 5, marked 'Wichitas,' is the particular land now in dispute, containing, it is stated, 743,257.19 acres; and, with tract 4, marked 'Cheyennes and Arrappahoes,' tract 6, marked 'Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches,' and tract 7, marked 'Greer Co.,' constituted what has been known as the 'Leased District,' containing, it is supposed, 7,713,239 acres. That District, it will be observed from the diagram, did not extend west of the 100th degree of west longitude.

It may be here remarked that according to the census report for 1890 the...

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